Newslinks for Friday 19th August 2016

IEA urges May to scrap Living Wage

“George Osborne’s living wage will cost thousands of jobs and do little to alleviate poverty, a think tank warned last night. The former chancellor announced last year that the minimum wage would be raised to a National Living Wage of more than £9 an hour by 2020 – giving six million a pay rise. But the Institute of Economic Affairs, a Right-wing think tank, demanded that Theresa May scrap the increase – to help the poorest, those out of work and those on part-time contracts.” – Daily Mail

“James Chapman, a key adviser to George Osborne during the hard-fought campaign to keep Britain in the European Union, will swap sides to work for David Davis, the secretary of state for Brexit, it has emerged. The former Daily Mail political editor was Osborne’s director of communications throughout the fraught contest, helping to craft documents such as the mocked-up budget red book that enraged Brexiters by suggesting leaving the EU would force the Treasury to cut spending and ramp up taxes.” – The Guardian

Food control lobby demand u-turn

“Britain’s biggest supermarkets have attacked Theresa May over her failure to impose laws restricting sugar in food… The plan has been pilloried by health groups and Jamie Oliver, the chef and campaigner, who accuse the prime minister of betraying the nation’s children. “Everything about it stinks of, ‘We don’t care’,” he writes in The Times today. The most surprising criticism has come from leading retailers, who are urging Mrs May to force them to sell healthier food, warning that voluntary sugar limits will fail.” – The Times (£)

Philip Collins: Good political fiction is good for democracy

“The Knives is the best political novel since. It is the first time in an age that a work of political fiction contains Conservatives who act from a range of motives rather than a singular wickedness. Decisions made for good reasons beget unintended consequences that beget panic responses… The health of our democracy needs more books like this because political writing might just be the most powerful form in the arts.” – The Times (£)

Prosecutors drop charges against man accused of posting death threat to MP

“Prosecutors have dropped the case against a man who posted an apparent death threat on a Tory MP’s Facebook page just days after Jo Cox was murdered. Mark Verier was accused of posting the words ‘Another MP that needs,’ followed by gun and knife emojis on South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay’s Facebook page. The threat was posted less than a week after Labour MP Jo Cox, 41, was stabbed multiple times and then shot just before a constituency surgery on June 16.” – Daily Mail

Ministers ‘put children at risk’ by failing to protect whistleblowers

“Children are being put at risk because ministers are still not doing enough to protect all whistleblowers if they raise concerns, a damning MPs’ report has found. It said Rotherham Council’s failure to listen to those who spoke out about the child abuse scandal there had contributed to the organised abuse many suffered.” – Daily Mail

Corbyn refuses to commit to defending NATO allies under threat

“Jeremy Corbyn last night refused to say whether he would defend a Nato ally if it were invaded by Russia. The Labour leader was asked multiple times at a leadership debate in Birmingham if he would uphold the Nato principle of “collective defence” where an attack against one member is considered an attack against all. But he refused to give concrete assurance that he would do so were he prime minister.” – Daily Telegraph

Hoey calls on Johnson to stop diplomats helping Mandelson

“British diplomats should be barred from helping Peter Mandelson pursue his business interests in Zimbabwe and other corrupt states, a senior MP said last night. Former minister Kate Hoey said she was appalled by revelations the British Embassy had helped arrange talks between the former Business Secretary and Zimbabwe’s controversial finance minister Patrick Chinamasa earlier this year.” – Daily Mail

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